Civil Society Champions

Civil Society Champions - award ceremony is an annual event launched by the Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs in 2009. It is called to honor the brightest civil activists, significant events and organizations in the Belarusian civil sector. The first ceremony took place on 23 December 2009 in Minsk.

Goals

The main goals of the “Civil Society Champions” award ceremony are as follows:

• to systematize the activities of the Belarusian civil sector over the year;
• to encourage civil society activists for further work;
• to present to the public the achievements and best practices of NGOs in various fields through a wide media coverage.

The long-list of nominees is formed by the Executive Bureau and the Working Group of the Assembly. After that, the Board forms a short-list of nominees and the voting process begins. Civil activists, NGO leaders and experts vote for a candidate and the Executive Bureau members process the voting results.

Winners of 2009

On December 23, 2009 an informal ceremony of awarding the most outstanding community initiatives and civil campaigns took place for the first time.

• Non-registration of the year - Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus.
• The Civil Campaign of the Year - to a joint initiative of the Belarusian human rights defenders "Human Rights Defenders against the death penalty in Belarus"
• Regional Event of the Year - to a big NGO Forum of the Assembly of the Mahiolou region, which brought together more than 80 activists of democratic associations of Mahiliou
• Creative Input of the Year - to a procession of Santa Clauses to the prosecutor's office, who seek to cancel the criminal article 193.1 within the Stop 193.1 campaign
• For Kindness in Action - to a group of bloggers who organized themselves in order to help the orphanage.
• For Human Treatment of Animals - to a campaign in support of homeless animals, which was carried out by a number of organizations and entities: public associations "Aegis" and "Salvation", "protection of life", "Pets", former volunteers of the "Fauna of the city", "Initiative", "Belarusian music alternative" and others.
• The Most Absurd Denial of the Year - to the Main Justice Department of Hrodna Regional Executive Committee. Officials have refused to register the "Zalaty Leu" (eng: "Golden Lion") social NGO on the grounds that because "the Charter of the organization does not explain the chosen name "Zalaty Leu"».

Winners of 2013

Reference
The prize in the nomination Campaign of the Year was awarded to “Let’s Make It Better!”-2013 campaign held by the Assembly of NGOs.

The prize in the nomination New Initiative went to Kaciaryna Kibalchych who launched Belarusian language courses “Mova ci cava”.

The prize in the nomination Regional Event of the Year was awarded to the people’s strikes against the mass killings of domestic pigs. The award was received by one of the Mahilou region activists, Kaciaryna Muzykantava.

The prize in the nomination Place of the Year was awarded to the creative platform “CEH” and was received by one of its founders, photographer Julia Daraskevich.

There were two winners in the nomination Creative Input of the Year: PRacounia of social advertising and a personal initiative to establish a private monument commemorating Kalinouski rebels.

The prize in the nomination Screw Up of the Year went to the authorities who fined the organizers of the bike ride “Mods on Bikes”.

The award in the category Media/Journalist of the Year was received by the Internet TV TUT.BY. Statuette and diploma were given to the TUT.BY TV editor Alena Andrejeva.

The prize in the nomination Best NGO Website of the Year was awarded to the Viasna Human Rights Centre.

The prize in the nomination Civil Leader of the Year was awarded to Siarhej Mihalok (music band “Liapis Trubiackoj”). The prize was received by the band’s press secretary Dzmitry Bezkaravajny.

Winners of 2014

On 13 January, the Sixth “Civil Society Champions” Award Ceremony took place in Minsk. The Assembly of NGOs marked the most notable and important events and activities that have happened in the Belarusian civil sector in 2014. The Jury consisted of 100 persons, including civil activists, former Award winners and journalists.

• Civil Leaders of the Year — Language teachers from the popular Belarusian language courses “Mova Nanova”, “Mova ci Kava”, “Movavieda” and “Mova TUT”.
• Campaign of the Year — “Show You Are a Belarusian”. In 2014, Art Siadziba members held a number of actions aimed at promotion of Belarusian symbols, including the Embroidered T-shirt Day and distribution of embroidered ribbons of the total length of 5 kilometers in the center of the city.
• New Initiative — Experts in protection of Kurapaty (an open air memorial of the Stalin repressions victims). In 2014, archeologists, architects, engineers, lawyers, historians and journalists united to protect Kurapaty from illegal redevelopment.
• Regional Event — 1863 Rebels Remembrance Day in Svislac. In 2014, it was the 20th anniversary of the Remembrance Day celebration.
• Creative Input of the Year — spontaneous solidarity action held by football fans at the Belarus-Ukraine football game in October 2014.
• Media/Journalist of the Year — Marat Haravy, the Novy Cas journalist.
• Best NGO website of the Year — informational website for teachers and trainers www.nastaunik.info.
• Screw Up of the Year — Citizenship and Migration Department of the Directorate of Internal Affairs of Minsk City Executive Committee and Citizenship and Migration Department of the Piersamajski Regional Directorate of Internal Affairs of Minsk for deprivation of citizenship and deportation of the human rights defender Alena Tankacova.

Winners of 2015

On January 15 the Assembly arranged the 7th “Civil Society Champions” Award Ceremony to estimate leaders and the most significant events of the last year in the third sector.

• An award The Civil Leader of the Year was given to Sviatlana Alexievich. The fact that she won a prestigious international award united Belarusians and her civic stand made Belarusians think about the situation in the country.
• The Campaign of the Year was a solidarity campaign with the cadets of the Jastrambelskaja school (#Пагоняпобач – Pahonia is near). The award was given to the initiators of the campaign — representatives of the “Art Siadziba”.
• The award in the New Initiative nomination was given to the students of the theatre laboratory Fortinbras at the Belarusan Free Theatre for a series of performances in support of the disabled people.
• Regional Event — the protection of the lake Balduk bank from the construction in the Pastavy region was named as. Members of the organizations Green Network, EcoDom, APB-Birdlife Belarus and locals are fighting against construction near the lake starting from the 2012.
• The award in the Partnership of the Year nomination was given to the humanitarian route initiative “Belarus-ATO”. The nomination was introduced at the first time this year and was given for the solidary activities and best initiative realization that united partners from the different sectors and spheres for the civil society benefits.
• As the best NGO website of the year was chosen a portal adukacyja.info.
• The Screw Up of the Year an “anti-award” marked the Ministry of Information for an order to wipe out the edition of the Vital Silicki’s book “Long road to tyranny: the post-communist authoritarianism and the struggle for democracy in Serbia and Belarus”.
• In the Creative Input of the Year nomination chose went to the Street Art Fest Urban Myths in Minsk.
• For versatile and thorough coverage of civic activity the award in the Media/Journalist of the Year nomination took a blogger Anton Matolka.

External links

• Top 10 Belarus Civil Society Achievements In 2013
• Viasna’s website named Champion of Civil Society 2013
• Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGO